I absolutely loved Wonder Woman: Warbringer when it came out last year, so I was already excited for the next installment in the “series.”
When I saw that Batman: Nightwalker, by Marie Lu was available, I couldn’t wait to read it. At the same time, I didn’t have time to read it, so I listened to the audiobook, which I definitely recommend. The narrator did an excellent job of doing distinct voices for each character and I remained on the edge of my proverbial seat the entire time I was listening.
I had heard of Lu before this, although I had not gotten around to reading any of her books. But I had heard only good things, so I was excited to see what she could do with this iconic character.
I should probably preface all this by saying that I’m not a Batman fan. I saw all the Christian Bale movies and the latest “Batman vs. Superman,” but I’ve never read any of the comics. That said, my problem with Batman is that he’s basically a glorified cop. He fights criminals without doing anything to get to the root cause of most violent crimes: poverty.
I thought this book dealt with the issue really well in that it had Bruce falling in love with one of the heads of a major criminal organization, which calls themselves the Nightwalkers. They target the super wealthy, using their own technology against them to trap them in their homes, kill them, and drain their bank accounts.
Madeleine is one of the group’s ringleaders and has finally been captured and is being held at Arkham Asylum where Bruce is doing community service for being an idiot and interfering with police work. He had the best intentions, but still. He was sticking his nose where it didn’t belong instead of letting the trained professionals deal with it and I was glad to see him actually get punished for that, rather than lauded as a hero.
So he’s mopping the floors at Arkham when Madeleine starts talking to him, which is amazing because she hasn’t said a word to anyone else. So they mike him up and send him in to get information, but of course she sees right through it.
But still they talk. She’s had tragedy in her life as a result of not having the money to get proper medical care, which is why she’s now working to try to level the playing field. I loved watching her explain to Bruce how the system is flawed and I loved how utterly in control she was at all times.
And yet, despite being warned not to trust her, Bruce does just that, and she manages to escape and get Bruce arrested for helping her and that’s when things really got exciting.
Overall, I didn’t think the book was quite as well written as Wonder Woman, but it was good, fast paced, and a whole lot of fun. I definitely recommend it.
What did you guys read/listen to this week? Any other new takes on an iconic character?